Multiwell experiment shows potential for gas from tight sands
A six-year, $30 million federal experiment now being concluded in Colorado has very likely accelerated the day when natural gas can be produced economically from massive lens-shaped, underground rock formations scattered throughout the western US. Already results from the test program indicate that it may be possible to produce gas from these elliptical deposits at costs of $2.50 to $3.00 per thousand cubic feet. Lenticular tight sands are deeply-buried deposits of sandstone, each one shaped much like the wing of an airplane. Their discontinuous nature and concrete-like porosity - they can be up to 30 times less permeable than conventional natural gas deposits - have made gas product both risky and costly. A major part of the Multiwell Experiment was to create new fractures or open up and link existing fractures. Beginning in 1983, researchers conducted the first frac jobs by injecting a gel-like substance under high pressure into the wells. The gel failed to perform properly, and initial production was poor. Researchers turned to a water-nitrogen foam for subsequent fracture tests with significantly better results. A proppant made up of tiny ceramic beads was injected into the fractures to hold them open. The strong, lightweight ceramic beads were found to be more effective than the more conventional sand particles used commercially. Researchers have now developed a model to simulate hydraulic fracturing at other sites. It predicts the geometry of hydraulic fractures as well as the way the proppant is transported and settles in the reservoir.
- OSTI ID:
- 5230761
- Journal Information:
- Fossil Energy Rev.; (United States), Journal Name: Fossil Energy Rev.; (United States)
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
29 ENERGY PLANNING
POLICY AND ECONOMY
COLORADO
NATURAL GAS WELLS
HYDRAULIC FRACTURING
CERAMICS
FOAMS
GELS
GEOMETRY
HYDRAULIC FRACTURES
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
MICROSPHERES
NATURAL GAS DEPOSITS
NITROGEN
PERFORMANCE TESTING
PERMEABILITY
POROSITY
PROPPING AGENTS
RESEARCH PROGRAMS
SANDSTONES
WATER
WELL STIMULATION
COLLOIDS
COMMINUTION
DISPERSIONS
ELEMENTS
FAILURES
FEDERAL REGION VIII
FRACTURES
FRACTURING
GEOLOGIC DEPOSITS
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
MATHEMATICS
MINERAL RESOURCES
NONMETALS
NORTH AMERICA
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
RESOURCES
ROCKS
SEDIMENTARY ROCKS
STIMULATION
TESTING
USA
WELLS
030900* - Natural Gas- Artificial Stimulation
Plowshare- (-1989)
294003 - Energy Planning & Policy- Natural Gas
290500 - Energy Planning & Policy- Research
Development
Demonstration
& Commercialization